ALTON - According to statistics available through the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), between 2013 and 2021, the number of opioid overdose deaths in Illinois increased by almost 300%. That’s why OSF Saint Anthony’s Health Center (1 St. Anthony’s Way, Alton) Psychological Services Department is hosting an upcoming Healthy Workplace Lunch & Learn program offering free NARCAN training.
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This “lunch & learn” program will be held on Friday, March 17, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. in the hospital’s Perpetual Help Center and led by Karen Tilashalski, community health specialist, Chestnut Health Systems. The training program is free and lunch will be provided, but registration is required.
Registration can be completed by visiting https://HealthyWorkplaceLunch.eventbrite.com.
NARCAN® Nasal Spray is a prescription medicine used for the treatment of a known or suspected opioid overdose emergency. Attendees will also learn about the opioid epidemic in southwestern Illinois including:
- Local overdose data
- What happens when a person overdoses
- How to recognize an overdose
- How to administer NARCAN®
- Local resources
- How to access free NARCAN®
More information on this program can be obtained by contacting Trudy Bodenbach, business development specialist, OSF Saint Anthony’s, via email at trudy.e.bodenbach@osfhealthcare.org or by calling/texting (618) 946-9131.
Additionally, this program is being offered in alignment with the hospital’s 2022 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) that identified, in part, that CHNA survey respondents rated drug abuse (illegal) as the most prevalent unhealthy behavior (24%) in Madison County.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Affordable Care Act), enacted March 23, 2010, added new requirements for tax-exempt charitable hospital organizations to conduct community health needs assessments and to adopt implementation strategies to meet the community health needs identified through the assessments. The hospital’s CHNA, which can be found by visiting takes into account input from specific individuals who represent the broad interests of the community served by OSF Saint Anthony’s including those with special knowledge of or expertise in public health.
OSF Saint Anthony’s CHNA report can be found by visiting https://www.osfhealthcare.org/about/community-health/.
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